I notice that my 6-1/2 year old 2001 C5 with 30,000 miles of in-town driving has quite a few cracks in the main drive belt.

Questions:

(1) How hard are these belts to replace? Is this something that is best left to the dealership to perform or can I do it myself?

(2) Any special tools needed?

(3) Are there better belt manufacturers that the stock GM belts?

 

Hi. I'm a middle-aged fat desk jockey, and was able to do them. The things to look for are cracks running all the way across the belt on the grooved side, significant wear/tearing on the smooth side, and the indicator on the belt tensioner. This is on top of the engine, passenger side, and is a spring-loaded idler.

There are three marks on the tensioner. If memory serves, the indicator on the moving part (radiator side) of the tensioner should be toward center of the car. If it's between the two most outboard marks on the fixed side, definitely time to replace.

I've used Gates belts from my local Napa store and been really happy. I've also read good reviews on the Goodyear Gatorback belts, but haven't run them on the Corvette.

Check the air conditioner belt at the same time. Low on the passenger side, it connects to the crankshaft pulley and the A/C compressor, with a fixed idler on top of the midpoint of the belt, and the tensioner on the bottom, just below the idler and pulling the belt up to tighten. It's the harder of the two tensioners to get to from the top of the car, but it wasn't bad. You'll want a crow's foot wrench, 15mm if memory still works.

The owner's manual has the belt routings shown. You can work the tensioners with a long combination wrench or 1/2 inch square drive. Takes a 15mm socket on the main belt, and the crow's foot mentioned above for the A/C. I use a proper belt tool, available at Sears and other tool sources, but it isn't necessary.

Don't cut the old belts off, unless you want to buy $150 in tensioners.

The top (main) belt tensioner is loosened by pushing the wrench clockwise facing the front - the tensioner comes up to loosen. It's easy to see, so not a big problem. The A/C tensioner is the bigger problem. It is hard to see, and needs to go down, toward the floor. Remember that you're working on the lower of the two candidates for idler. If I can figure out how to add photos to a post, I'll take a few.

The belts will run you about $40 for the pair, depending on where you get them. The A/C belt is narrower, and about $10. The main belt is about $30. I can get the Napa number if you need, but the dealers can look it up no problem.

For a first time change, probably take you at least an hour, and up to two if you're overly careful. After that, I can change the pair in a few minutes. The trick is threading the belts between the radiator brace portion of the frame and the pulley. It will be good if you have a helper who can keep the belt routed on one side while you position the other. Once you get the belt around everything except the alternator pulley, spin the tensioner all the way clockwise (up), and work the belt onto the alternator.

Gently release the tensioner and take a look at it. If it leans out at the top, head back to the parts store. The tensioner needs to be aligned and in good shape or you'll end up throwing the belt at 5500 RPM, probably too far from home for your towing service to do you any good.

Also, try to move the tensioner by hand once it's loaded with the belt. If it's too soft, it's probably worn and should be replaced. The good news is that their not a hard item to find (though usually need to be ordered in - most stores don't have a lot of Corvette driving customers), and should run $80-100, depending on where you get it. I didn't replace my A/C tensioner, so don't have a price on it. Probably stupid - I'm sure it will go at some point, but at least it doesn't take the water pump and alternator offline unless it also takes out the main belt. But I couldn't get the A/C tensioner as quickly, so decided to take a chance.

Like I said, not too bad. Definitely easier than number seven plug. I'll try to add pictures, but if you're comfortable with tools, this shouldn't be too bid a deal, and will keep a few bucks in your pocket.

Cheers!

 

Wow! Thanks for the detailed instructions. I wonder if replacement at 30,000 miles is considered premature or normal? I notice you mention a Crow's Foot wrench. I am familiar with that design. but have never needed one for anything in the past (but I have not built Corvette engines since 1975). all my tools are Snap-On and I see several configurations of Crow's Foot wrenches on their site (open-end, hex, flared, etc.) - guess I need to just get in there and see which one I need.

Thanks again!

 

Just replaced my balancer. A/C belt and serp belt lasted 110,000 miles and still had some left! Didn't replace any tensioners, they still looked good. All I used was standard tools (closed and open ended wrenches).

 

I did it myself with a standard metric wrench also, after being shown how easy it is, even a cave man can do it.

 

Yeah - the GM tensioners aren't bad. The one on my sons old car, a current gen Taurus, was in a bad place, and way tight. Needed the two-piece belt wrench, so the short (about 8 inch) arm would go around the alt, and the long one worked the leverage. Used 3/8" drive ratchet handles and combo wrenches on my GMC pickup. Since I've got the belt wrench, I use it. If I didn't, well, GeorgeZNJ is absolutely right - not a hard thing to do.

If you want a belt wrench, got mine at Sears for about $30. Used it more than I expected, but I'm also a homeowner with a bunch of contractor-grade tools, so don't mind me - tools are cheaper than girlfriends. The Corvette is cheaper than girlfriends. My wife would make sure of that. A/C belt is way down there on the C5, but if you're limber, not a prob.

As for the crow's foot, I had another project that needed one, and didn't figure to need it again, so I just bought a cheap one at the local Taiwanese Tools 'R Us outlet. Worked fine, and has since been used on my son's old Trans Am, so it was worth the $15 or so for a cheap set. Only needed them about five times that I can recall, in 35 years of wrenching on cars old and new. Usually someplace crowded - the Shelby GT500 accounts for most of those.

And 30k miles isn't too early. It's earlier than the books call for, but in range. Depends on climate, stresses, etc. The load/unload cycles on these things are more severe than on the Taurus (or Lumina or whatever), so if in doubt, change it out. YMMV.

110k is exceptional, and cool to hear that factory parts go that far. I'm too paranoid - did the 100k tune-up at 73k while I was at it. The usual expectation for serpentine belts is about 50k miles. But you can look at them, look for excessive cracking and wear, and make a decision. Don't forget those indicators on the tensioner - they tell you how you're doing on stretch. My wife's Grand Prix is at about 50k, and the indicators are indicating that it's about due.

As far as the tensioners, the one on the Taurus went at about 110k. The one on the GMC is still good at 195k. The one on my 'Vette folded up at 73k, taking the belt off. Since the belt had been replaced at about 62k, and was still in good shape, this was a shame. Not a good idea to put a belt back on after being thrown, and if you look closely at mine, you can see the damage. Already checked the one on the Grand Prix. Still aligned, can't push it all the way up by hand, I figure it'll stay.

As Hawkdriver said above, I wouldn't just go buy tensioners. But I would look at them under load and make sure the gaps are about the same top and bottom, that they align with the other pulleys, and do the push test to make sure they aren't going limp. Even a good manufacturer has a distribution of durability, and it's better to take a few minutes to check than to find yourself sitting alongside the road out by Chrome, California (yes, there really is one) hoping someone will come by because Cingular provides exactly zero bars of service out there.

When mine failed, I found out that you don't limp in with these cars. They overheat in less than a mile, even on a 35 degree night, and the electrical demands are profound. No reason to worry - just reason to check while you're at it. At 30k, the odds of needing one are remote, unless the belt breaks or is cut, since that slamming back is really likely to damage the tensioner.

Anyway, good luck with it. They aren't too bad. Only thing I've found I really hate on the 'Vette is checking the fluid on the A4. If I had the headroom, I'd get a lift.

 

EASY to do... use the tensioner to loosen the belt, slide it off, put new one on, use tensioner again to get belt in place...youre done, go drive

 

Great write up BowTieRocket. Going to save it for future use.

 

Thanks again for all the pointers!